“This is a shortlist of remarkable quality and variety,” Trollope said. “It includes six distinctive voices and subjects, four nationalities and an age range of close on half a century. It is a privilege to present it.

“My only regret is that the rules of the prize don’t permit a longer shortlist. However, I am confident that the 14 novels we had to leave out will make their own well-deserved way.”

Other books on the shortlist include Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan, Painter of Silence by Georgina Harding, The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, Foreign Bodies by Cynthia Ozick and State of Wonder by Ann Patchett.

The £30,000 Orange Prize, set up in 1996, was set up to promote fiction written by women. The award ceremony takes place in London on May 30th.